 Realizing that with the first southerly wind the invaders would fire the brushwood and thereby burn down the palisades, the Ngāi Tahu tried the desperate expedient of firing it themselves when the wind was nor’west, and driving away from the pā.But the wind changed suddenly, the palisades caught fire — the 100-year-old timbers burning rapidly — and in the smoke and confusion Te Rauaparaha's men were inside the pā before the defence could be reorganized.Of Kaiapoi's population of about 1000, only 200 or so escaped, making their way through the lagoon under cover of the smoke.